Cuomo on federal shutdown: “It’s a breakdown of democracy” (UPDATED)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo railed against the looming shutdown of the federal government, telling reporters Monday it’s a “triumph of politics over government.”

Cuomo fielded questions after making an announcement in Suffolk County, criticizing Washington for allowing “political differences” to overcome a functioning government.

“Government is about action. Life is about making progress,” Cuomo said. “When you allow the politics to rear its ugly head to this level, you frustrate and stymie the government. And that’s what you’ve done.”

He’s also used Washington as a comparison to Albany, with the idea of proving the state Capitol is functioning while the federal government is mired in gridlock.

A federal government shutdown looms Tuesday unless Congress passes a stopgap funding bill. House Republicans have voted to delay the implementation of the Affordable Care Act—or Obamacare—for a year, but Senate Democrats have declined to consider the measure.

Cuomo said the stalemate is “sad.”

“I think it’s really unfortunate,” Cuomo said. “We can have political differences, but you know what? At the end of the day, we’re all Americans. We’re all New Yorkers, I say to my colleagues. Find out how to compromise, how to move forward, because everybody loses when you’re in this situation where you just fail to function.”

UPDATED: Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is the latest state official to weigh in on the potential shutdown.

“A shutdown of the federal government would be bad for the United States, bad for New York and bad for our already struggling economy,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “The political gamesmanship being shown in Washington serves no one. It’s time for leaders of both the House and the Senate to forge an agreement that will avoid a costly mistake of shuttering important government services and furloughing hundreds of thousands of public servants, while finding responsible solutions to the broader fiscal challenges that lie immediately ahead.”